THE WORLD’S 50 BEST BARS LAUNCHES FIRST-EVER SCHOLARSHIP FOR ASPIRING BARTENDERS IN COLLABORATION WITH THE BLEND BY BEAM SUNTORY

The World’s 50 Best Bars today announces the launch of its inaugural 50 Best Bars Scholarship, in partnership with The Blend – the global trade advocacy programme for the hospitality industry by Beam Suntory. This marks the first time in 50 Best’s storied history that the organization will offer a scholarship to an aspiring bartender. 
The 50 Best Bars The Blend Scholarship is open to any bartender from anywhere in the world aged 21 or over with fewer than three years’ experience. The winner will be rewarded with a trip to complete two bar stages (internships) in London and New York. The first will take place at Connaught Bar, the two-time winner of The World’s Best Bar title, in 2020 and 2021. The second will be at Katana Kitten, a previous winner of the Best New Opening Award in 2019 and currently ranked No.10 in The World’s 50 Best Bars 2021 list. The winner will then be hosted by The Blend Global Team for an experience of a lifetime in Madrid. Flights between these destinations will be included and the lucky winner will receive £500 per week living expenses to enjoy the host cities. 
The details
Applications will open on 19th May via The World’s 50 Best Bars website and close on 20th June. Applicants can find further information to help with their entry at www.theblend.world. The winner of the scholarship will be announced at the ceremony for The World’s 50 Best Bars later this year.
The launch of the 50 Best Bars The Blend Scholarship represents a key moment in the brands’ drive to prioritise development opportunities and experiences for aspiring bartenders across the globe. The theme of the Scholarship for 2022 is Future Positive, which comes with the ambition to cultivate practices and attitudes that will have a positive impact for the planet, for guests and the hospitality community. It will reward bartenders who take a low-waste or local approach to ingredients and push for greater diversity, better representation and balance within workplaces. Applicants will need to show a readiness to contribute to this outlook in order to be selected by the illustrious judging panel as the inaugural 50 Best Scholar (see The Selection Process below).
 
The team says
 
Mark Sansom, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Bars, says: “We could not be more excited to launch the 50 Best Bars Scholarship, in partnership with The Blend by Beam Suntory. It’s an initiative we have been planning for several years and it is truly excellent to be able to work with a brand such as Beam Suntory, which shares our vision to professionalise the craft of bartending and support bartenders with a future-gazing ideology. We look forward to receiving applications from all over the world as we give this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to someone that will undoubtedly set their career into overdrive.”
Agostino Perrone, Director of Mixology at Connaught Bar, says: "We at Connaught Bar are very excited to host the first-ever winner of the 50 Best Bars The Blend Scholarship for a learning experience with us. I look forward to assessing the applications and giving the opportunity to the deserving winner to take part in this amazing experience."
Further details, including the date and location of the awards ceremony for The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022, where the Scholarship winner will be announced, will be unveiled on 25th May.
Applications to 50 Best Bars The Blend Scholarship officially open on 19th May at 09:00 GMT+1. Enter at: Worlds50BestBars.com/scholarship 

The selection process
The 50 Best Scholar will be selected after a three-stage judging process, which will feature leading lights of the bar industry
·  Round One: Applicants will be asked to share their vision of Future Positive and what it tangibly means to them as a bartender as part of a video application and questionnaire format. A total of 25 applicants will be selected to go through to Round Two.
 
·  Round Two: The shortlisted candidates will be asked to design a drink inspired by the theme and that heroes one local ingredient as well as documenting the research, development and process that goes into making their chosen cocktail. For this second stage, 50 Best has recruited previous winners of its Sustainable Bar Award and other stalwarts of the bar industry. The guest judges include: Vijay Mudaliar (Native and Analogue, Singapore), Ashish Sharma (The Surf Club, Miami), Jean Trinh (Alquímico, Cartagena), Kelsey Ramage (The Trash Collective, USA), Claire Sprouse (Hunky Dory, Brooklyn) and Luke Whearty (Byrdi, Melbourne), to help select the top five applicants who will make it to the final round. 
 
·  Round Three: For the five finalists, the third stage will comprise a rigorous interview process with 50 Best; The Blend by Beam Suntory; a representative from B-Corp; Director of Mixology for Connaught Bar, Agostino Perrone and Masahiro Urushido, Managing Partner of Katana Kitten. 
The three finalists will be hosted at The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022 awards ceremony, where the winner will be announced. The internships will take place in 
(excerpt from a release)